Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-07-23

tthhoss fierce ones found that We were alone,
well, t" and he smiled Significantly and made
a movement as though he were placing hat
on his head. "But there Is way over the
clitf whereof once spalse to We, where they
drive the cattle out to pasture. Then beyond
the pastures are three days journey through
the marshes, and after that | know not, but
have heard that seven days Journey from
thence Is mighty river which floweth TO the
black water. II ye could come thither per-
chance ye might escape, but how can yc
come thitherp
"Billali, said, aonce, thou Ixnowest, I did
save thy life. Now pay back the debt, my
father, and save me mine and my friends,
tho Lions. 1t shall be a pleasant thing for
thee to think Of when thinebhour comes, and z
something TO Get in the scale against the evil
doing Of thy days, II perchance thou hast
done any evil. Also, IL thou be right, and IL
She doth but hide herself, surely when shs--
comes again she shall reward thee.n -
"My son the Baboon," answered the olaT
man, stink not that have an ungrateful
heart. Well do | remember bow thou didst
rescue me whom those dogs stood by to see me
drown. Measure for measure will give thee
and II thou canst be saved, surely win save
thee. Listen: by dawn tomorrow be pre-
pared, for filters shall be here to bear ye
away across tho mountains, and through the
marshes beyond. This will l do, saying that
1t is tho word CT She that it be done, and he
who obeyeth not the word Of She food is he
for tho hyonas. Then when ye have crossed
the marshes, ye must strike with your own
hand, so that pcrchance, IL good fortune 60
with ye, We may live to come TO that black
water whereof we told me. And now, see. the
Lion wakes, and ye must eat the food have
made ready for yer
Leo's condition when once no was fairly
aroused proved not to be so bad as might have
been expected from his appearance, and We
both of us managed to eat a hearty meal,
which indeed we needed sadly enough. After
this we limped down to the spring and
bathed, and then came back and slept again
till evening, when we once more ate enough
for FIVE Billali was away all that day, no
doubt making arrangements about filters md
bearers, for we were Weakened In the middle
of the night by the arrival OF considerable
number of men In tho little camp.
At dawn the old man himself appeared,
and told us that he had, by using She's
dreaded name, though with some difficulty,
sue seeded In getting tho necessary men and
two guides to conduct us across tho swainps,
and that he urged us to start at once, at tho
same time announcing his intention OF &c
companying Us, so as to protect US against
| treachery. / was much touched by this act
of kindness on the part Of that willy old bar
barian toward two utterly defenseless stran=
| gers. A three-or In his case, for be would
have to return. six-days' journey through
those deadly swamps was no light undertake
ing for man Of his age, but he consented to
| II cheerfully in order to promote our safety.
| It shows that even among those dreadful
! Amahagger--who are certainly, with their
| gloom and their devilish and ferocious rites,
| by far the most terrible savages that ever
heard of-there are people with kindly hearts.
or course self interest may have had some
thing to % with it. He may have thought
| H. sd A4aA iu
mand an account OF us at his hands; but
still, allowing for all deductions, 1t was q
great deal more than we could expect under
| the circumstances, and can only say that
| shall for as long as | live cherish most af-
fectionate remembrance OF my nominal
parent, old Billali.
Accordingly, after swallowing some food.
we started in the filters, feeling, so far as
our bodies went, wonderfully like our old
| selves after our long rest and sleep. l must
| leave the condition of our minds to the imagi-
| nation.
Then came terrible pull up tho cliff.
Sometimes the ascent was natural, more often
| 1t was a zigzag roadway cut. no doubt, In the
| first instance by the old inhabitants OF Kor. The
Amahagger say they drive their spare cattle over
| II once year to pasture outside oil | know Ia
that those cattle must be uncommonly active on
their feet OF course the lltters were useless here,
| so We had to walk.
For three whole days, through stencil and mlre,
| and the all prevailing flavor OF fever, did our
bearers struggle along, till at length we came to
| open, rolling ground, quite unoultivated, and
mostly treeless, but covered with game Of all
sorts, which lies beyond that almost desolate, and
| without guides utterly impracticable, district.
And here on the following morning we babe fare
| well, not without some regret to old Billali, who
| stroked his white beard and solemniy blessed us.
| Farewell, my son the Baboon," he said, "and
farewell to thee, Lion. l can do no more to
helpye. But II ever We come to your own coun-
try, be advised, and venture no more into lands
that yc know not, lest We come back no more, but
leave your white bones to mark the limit of your
Journeyings. Farewell once more; often shall
think of We, nor wilt thou forget me, my Balloon,
for though thy face Is ugly thy heart is true. y
And then he turned and went, and with him went
the tall and sulen looking bearers and that was
| watched them winding away with the empty lit
tiers like procession bearing dead men from @
battle, till the mists from the marsh gathered
round them and hid them, and then, left utterly
desolate in the vast wilderness, we turned and
gazed around us and at each other.
| Three weeks or so before, four men had entered
| tho marshes of Kor, and now two Of us were
dead, and the other two had gone through adven-
lures and experiences 50 strange and terrible
| that death himself hath not O more fearful coun.
tenance. Three weeks-and only three weeksl
| Truly time should be measured by events and not
by the lapse of hours. 1t seemed like thirty
years since we saw the last of our whaleboat
"We must strike out for the Zambesi, Leo |
said, but God knows If we shall ever get there
| Leo nodded He had become very silent of
| late and we started with nothing but the clothes
| we stood in, compass, our revolverS and express
| rifles, and about 200 rounds of ammunition; and
80 ended the history Of our visit to the ruins Of
| mighty Kor.
As for the adventures that subsequently bosell
lis, strange and varied as they were, have, after
| delberation, determined not TO record them here.
In these pages have only tried to give short
and clear account Of an occurrence which be-
lieve 10 be unique, and this have done, not with
q view to immediate publication, but merely to
| put on paper while they are yet fresh In our
memories the details of our journey and Its re.
suit, which will, l believe, prove interesting to
the world II ever we determine to make them
public. This as at present advised, we do not
intend should be done during our joint lives.
For the rest 1t Is OF no public interest, re-
sembling, as il does, the experience Of more
than one Central African traveller. Suffice II
to say that we did, after incredible hardships
and privations reach the Zambesi, which
proved to be about 40 miles south OF where
Blal left us. There we were for six months i'm
prisoned by q savage tribe, who believed us TO be
supernatural beings, chiefly on account OF Leo's
youthful face and snow white hair. From these
people we ultimately escaped, and, crossing this
Zambesi, wandered off southwark, where, wher
fortunate to Fall In with half caste Portuguese
elephant hrnser who had followed o troop OF ele
plants further inland than he had ever been be
fore This man treated us most Hospitality. and
ultimately through his assistance we, after in
numorable sufferings and adventures, reached
Delagoa bay more than eighteen months from
the day we emerged from the marshes OF Ror
and the very next day managed to catch one 81
the Donald Currie boats that run around thu
Cape to England. Our journey home wa
prosperous one and we set our foo
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